Does anyone have a scientific reason for the insane flooding this past week? I feel like it’s unusual for some of these states/areas to experience flooding to this degree and it all seems to be happening within the same week now. I know there are some tropical storms down south but I was absolutely not expecting Chicago to be hit with the house-swiping floods like Texas was. I’m in Wisconsin and even we’ve been experiencing some insane weather this year with the tornadoes and storms. I’ve noticed that the weather all over the country has been so unpredictable and worse than previous years.
I’ve heard lots of things, ranging from weather seeding to a more reasonable explanation, global warming, but I’m curious if there’s some other scientific explanation for the recent spike in bad weather conditions.
I’m excited and curious to see your replies! Thank you!
Edit: just to clarify, I used weather seeding as the extreme on one end (the more ridiculous take) and global warming on the other end (the most logical explanation) yes, I have heard of global warming and no I am not a conspiracist who thinks the government is controlling the weather
When an area has several years of drought conditions, the ground can not absorb a steady/large amount of rainfall. When moisture coalesces in the atmosphere in these areas, it comes down in a deluge. When that happens in areas that have been in an extensive drought (like Texas this week, San Diego 2 years ago, etc...), flash flooding occurs because the soil is not able to absorb the precipitation at the rate it is falling.
Global warming is causing more intense storms and more chaotic violent weather. That is all there is to it. Any individual storm or flooding is largely caused by what always causes floods. Lots of water and no place for it to go.
We have entire divisions of the government designed to predict and mitigate this stuff: they are being stripped bare, and incompetent lackies have been placed in charge of those divisions that do still exist.
Weather Seeding.. who would do this? why? How does it work? if it works why do some places have droughts, if they could just create rain? Why wouldn't the highly litigious angry finger-pointy president of the US blame these people who are doing that?
The first impulse of many humans is when suffering is inflicted is to imagine an evil perpetrator responsible. Even if it doesn’t make sense.
Global warming, simple.
Drier ground absorbs water more slowly, so when the ground is bone-dry and a heavy storm arrives, the water just runs off the ground like it's concrete.
When the oceans are warmer, more water evaporates, and warmer air can hold more water.
Those two effects means that the air is holding more water, on average, than it used to. When temperatures drop due to a cold front, air rising to get over mountains, etc - all the things that cause storms normally - there's now more water in the air to precipitate as rain or snow.
Hence: floods.
Global warming innit.
If you're wanting a scientific explanation other than global warming there isn't one, because the explanation is global warming.
Warmer air holds more moisture. Same reason hurricanes are causing more flooding even at lower categories.
Floods are not new.
The street that I grew up on was flooded out in 1885, Then again in 1927, then again in 2011. I know this since my family has lived in that area for all of those events
The 1927 event was the most damaging one by far.
As the world increasingly gets warmer, the atmosphere essentially gets thirstier. Warmer air sucks more water from one area and dumps it all of a sudden somewhere else.